Fact Finder - History

Following decades of civil war against the Nationalist (Kuomintang) forces, Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese Communist Party, proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from atop Tiananmen Gate in Beijing. The Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek, retreated to the island of Taiwan. This victory ended a century of foreign intervention and internal strife in China, which Mao referred to as the 'Century of Humiliation.' The PRC immediately began radical social and economic reforms, including land redistribution and the nationalization of industry. This event was a major blow to the United States and its allies during the early Cold War, as the world's most populous nation became a communist state. It set the stage for China's eventual rise as a global superpower and the ongoing geopolitical tension regarding the status of Taiwan.